


Love at Second Sight

by SkyFireForever



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fate & Destiny, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Multi, Other, Platonic Soulmates, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25974001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyFireForever/pseuds/SkyFireForever
Summary: Aimee Beaufort can’t wait to meet her soulmate, the person who shares a little heart-shaped mark on their wrist, just like her. She’s imagined what her soulmate would be like ever since she was a child. When she finally meets her soulmate, nothing is what she expected.
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Love at Second Sight

Aimee could remember the first time she’d wondered about the little heart-shaped mark on her wrist. She’d been four years old and she’d realized that her mother didn’t share the mark with her. She’d been holding her mother’s hand when she’d noticed that her wrist was clear of any defining marks at all. She had frowned and looked up at her mother with wide, curious eyes. 

“Where’s your heart, Mama?” She had asked, tilting her little head to the side. 

Her mother had smiled, not understanding what her daughter had meant. “My heart’s inside of my chest, just like yours.” She had bent low to press a hand over the left side of Aimee’s chest. “Feel it?” 

Aimee had shaken her head, a pout playing at her lips. “No. Where’s your wrist heart?” She had released her mother’s hand to point at her own mark. “Like this.” 

“Oh. My soulmark.” Her mother had smiled kindly at her. “My soulmark isn’t in the shape of a heart. Everyone’s soulmark is different.” She had explained patiently. “Mine is a little circle right behind my ear. See?” She had knelt down and pulled her left ear down to reveal a small circle upon the skin. “That’s my soulmark.” 

“Oh.” That only left Aimee with more questions. “What’s a soulmark?” 

“It’s the mark that you share with your soulmate. Your father has the same small circle behind his ear as I do. And somewhere out there someone has the same heart shape on their wrist as you. And that’s who your soulmate is.”

“What’s a soulmate?” 

“A soulmate is someone who you’re destined to love, no matter what.” Her mother had told her with a cheerful smile. “It’s someone who you’ll love until the day you die.” 

“Oh.” Aimee hadn’t had a great concept of death yet, but she figured that there was only one person who she could love forever and ever. “Are you my soulmate, Mama?” 

Her mother had laughed and shook her head. “No, dear. I’m your father’s soulmate. You’ll love your soulmate in a different kind of way.” 

And that had been the end of that conversation. Aimee had spent the entire day looking at her soulmark and wondering about whoever it was she shared it with. She had hoped they would be nice and kind and would make her treats. 

As she grew older, her fascination with her soulmark only grew. She demanded to see the soulmark of each and every person she met, or to at least be told what it was if it wasn’t someplace clearly visible. At age six, she would play soulmates with her friends at recess. 

“Markus, you have to pretend to be my soulmate so we can pretend to get married.” Aimee had demanded. She’d brought a ring to school and everything. 

Markus had turned up his nose at her. “Why would I want to pretend to marry you? You’re icky.” He had wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Besides, I’m playing knights today.” 

“No fair!” Aimee had protested. “I need someone to pretend to be my soulmate!” She had looked around and spotted someone reading a book instead of playing with everyone else. She had marched right up to them and rocked back on her heels. “Excuse me?” She had tapped them every so politely on the shoulder. 

They had looked up at her, peering up through large, round glasses. “Uh- Yes?” They had slipped a bookmark into their book so they could properly pay attention to conversation at hand. 

“My name is Aimee.” She had announced. “And I need someone to pretend to be my soulmate so we can pretend to get married.” She had explained eagerly. “Do you have a heart-shaped soulmark on your wrist like mine?” She had extended her arm to show off her soulmark, shoving it into the other child’s face. 

“Oh. No.” The child had shook their head.

“What’s your soulmark, then?” Aimee had taken a seat right beside the child, a smile on her face. “I want to know what everyone’s soulmarks are so I can help everyone find their soulmates.” 

“Oh.” The child had looked down, their fingers brushing against the pages of their book. “It’s a star. A star on my toe.” 

“A star!” Aimee’s eyes had widened. “A star is almost as cool as a heart!” She had exclaimed joyously. “We should pretend to be soulmates so we can pretend to get married!” She had leapt to her feet and offered the other child her hand. 

The child had taken it, setting their book down beside them and allowing Aimee to help them up. “Okay.” They had agreed, a small smile appearing on their face. “What do we do?” 

“We need to find an officiant!” Aimee had explained. “That’s someone who says that we’re married.” She had taken the other child’s hand and pulled them in the direction of someone else who wasn’t playing knights with most of the other children. “Lucio!” She had called to the boy, who had looked up from where he was picking flowers and braiding them into flower crowns. 

“Yeah, Aimee?” He had tilted his head, showing off his soulmark. Lucio had a heart-shaped soulmark, just like Aimee, but his was on his neck, which meant that they weren’t soulmates because they didn’t match up perfectly. Besides, Lucio had already known who his soulmate was. 

“Will you be the officiant to our pretend wedding?” Aimee had asked, putting on her biggest puppy-dog eyes. “You just have to ask if we take each other to be our awfully wedded wives and then we say ‘I do’ and you say ‘I now announce you wife and wife’. Okay?” 

Lucio had considered it for a moment, thinking it over. “Yeah, okay.” He had agreed, rising to his feet. 

“Perfect!” Aimee had declared, taking the child she’d brought with her’s hands and looked into their eyes. 

Lucio had cleared his throat. “Do you take this woman to be your awfully wedded wife?” He had asked Aimee, who had nodded vigorously. 

“I do.” 

“And do you take this woman to be your awfully wedded wife?” 

“Uh, I do.” The other child had spoken up with a smile. 

“I now announce you wife and wife!” Lucio had announced, throwing his hands into the air. “You may kiss the bride!” 

The child’s face had heated up and they had flushed, ducking their head in embarrassment. “Kiss? I don’t know about-”

But then Aimee had pressed her lips to their cheek and they had looked up in surprise, their face growing even warmer. Aimee had grinned at them and they had smiled back. And that had been the start of a wondrous friendship.

The child Aimee had befriended would eventually become known as Enzi, a name that Aimee had helped them choose from a selection of names Enzi had picked out for themself. Enzi seemed happy with the name and Aimee was happy for them. 

As the two of them grew older, Aimee had grown even more fascinated by her soulmark while Enzi seemed to do their best to ignore it. Aimee couldn’t comprehend Enzi’s lack of interest in their soulmate. 

“Don’t you want to know who it is?” Aimee had asked her best friend on day as they were changing out to go to gym class at age thirteen. “Doesn’t it interest you?”

Enzi had sighed as they tied their shoes. They’d had this conversation with Aimee what felt like a hundred times before. “I don’t know. Not really.” They had responded. “I just don’t see what the big deal is.” 

“The big deal is that there is someone out there who you are  _ destined _ to love!” Aimee had exclaimed. “And who is destined to love you, no matter what.” 

Enzi had simply shrugged. “I guess, but I guess I don’t really see the whole point of it, though. Like, I don’t see what’s so special about being loved that way. I have my friends who love me. Isn’t that enough?” 

“Of course it’s not enough.” A voice had spoken up from behind them. Enzi had turned to see a fellow classmate already dressed out and leaning against a wall. “Friendship is all well and good, but that’s totally different from romantic love.” She had said matter-of-factly. “Romantic love has you swooning and makes you feel complete.” 

Enzi had frowned. “Platonic love makes me feel plenty complete.” They had murmured under their breath. 

The classmate, Harriet, had shrugged. “But it’s different. You’ve seen Lucio and his soulmate, haven’t you?” She had questioned. “The two of them are so in love that it’s painful to watch.” 

“Yeah, but they were friends before they fell in love.” Enzi had insisted. “And they still act more like best friends than anything else.” 

Harriet had rolled her eyes. “That’s just how true love is.” 

Enzi had sighed and shook their head. “If you say so.” They had continued working on dressing out for gym class.

Aimee had approached Harriet. “What’s your soulmark?” She had asked. “Do you know who your soulmate is?” 

Harriet had shook her head. “Not yet, but I’ll know when I meet her.” She had smiled. “My soulmark is an arrow across my chest, right over my heart.” She had placed a hand over the left side of her chest. “And I won’t even need to see her soulmark to know that she’s the one.” 

“Aw.” Aimee had smiled brightly. “That’s so romantic.” 

“I know.” Harriet had grinned, mostly to herself. “I’m just cool like that.” 

Aimee had laughed. “Do you wanna be on me and Enzi’s team during whatever sport we play today?” She had asked eagerly. 

“Sure!” Harriet had agreed. “We can talk more about soulmates.” 

Enzi hadn’t seemed too pleased with that plan, but they’d gone along with it nonetheless, actually playing the sport instead of chattering away like Aimee and Harriet had.

Aimee and Harriet’s interaction had blossomed into the start of another friendship. Soon, Aimee, Harriet, and Enzi were doing everything together. The three of them were an inseparable trio all throughout eighth grade and the start of high school. They had their little spats and break-ups, but they always came back together eventually. 

They had been sixteen when the idea of soulmates had first really come between them. Enzi had just outed themself as aromantic, something that their family mostly laughed off and insisted that they would change their mind once they met their soulmate. Everyone changed their mind when they met their soulmate. Enzi wasn’t as convinced. 

Harriet had taken Enzi’s parents’ side on the matter, insisting that Enzi would eventually change their mind once they saw the light of true love. Aimee hadn’t been sure of how she felt. She had spent her whole life believing that everyone had a soulmate, a true love that they could find one day. It felt impossible to her that Enzi just wouldn’t love their soulmate. But on the other hand, Aimee trusted Enzi to know how they felt. It was just hard to believe. 

Harriet, Enzi, and Aimee had been gathered around the lunch table, Enzi with their head in a book as Harriet and Aimee chattered. 

“Did you hear about this new dating app that recently came out?” Harriet had asked eagerly. “It’s called Markmatcher and you take a picture of your soulmark and it scans its user base for people who took a similar picture. It matches your soulmark to your soulmate!” She had explained, speaking so quickly that she was a little out of breath. 

Aimee’s lips had pulled into a bit of a frown. “But isn’t that sort of cheating?” She had asked as she thought about it. “I mean, I guess it would make the search for your soulmate faster, but it isn’t the natural way.” 

Harriet had rolled her eyes. “You sound like my mom.” She had said, sticking out her tongue in distaste. “Come on, this is the way of the future!” She had exclaimed so loudly that several other students had turned their heads to see who was being so obnoxiously loud. “I’m going to make an account.” 

“Well, I’m not.” Aimee had said firmly. “You shouldn’t rush love. It just doesn’t work that way.” 

“It can.” Harriet had insisted. “Think of it as simply putting effort into finding your soulmate.” 

Aimee had made a face. “I dunno. It just doesn’t sit right with me. Love is such a natural thing. You shouldn’t-”

“Will you shut  _ up  _ about soulmates?” Enzi had suddenly snapped, slamming the book they were reading shut. “It’s always soulmate this and soulmate that with you two!” They had begun to raise their voice. “You don’t even try to include me in your conversations anymore!” 

Harriet and Aimee had frozen, surprised at Enzi’s outburst. Enzi had always been rather quiet and meek, never one to confront anyone about anything. 

Harriet had been the one to recover first. “You’re always reading at lunch. Why do you care what we talk about?” 

“Because I’m  _ sick  _ of hearing about soulmates!” Enzi had declared. “I get it, you think romantic love is the most important thing in the world! You think people like me will never experience true happiness or whatever because you think we’re not  _ natural _ .” They had shot a glare at Aimee. “But you don’t need to say it so often.” 

Aimee’s heart had sunk. She hadn’t meant what she’d said in that way. She hadn’t meant it that way at all. “Enzi-”

“No, I’m done.” Enzi had stood up and marched off to sit at an empty table on their own, yanking their book back open. 

Aimee had stared after them, feeling guilty and ashamed. She had looked at Harriet, who had seemed more pissed off than anything. 

The three of them had eventually made up. It had taken a lot of apologizing on Aimee’s part, but Enzi had eventually forgiven her. It wasn’t the only fight about soulmates that they’d had, however. Harriet was stuck in her ways and would mention how true love was the only way to be truly happy, though Aimee started to become more careful about what she said around Enzi. 

But that had been years ago. Now, the three of them were nineteen and were neck deep in college work. They’d all managed to attend colleges in the same city they grew up in and they were all still living with their families, so not much had changed as it concerned their relationship. They were still best friends, still saw each other as often as they were able, still had their fights, still always made up afterwards. 

Aimee was still obsessed with finding the person who shared her little heart-shaped mark. The older she got, the more constantly she thought about whoever it was who was her soulmate. She found herself tracing her soulmark whenever she thought about her soulmate. She was half-convinced to give in and use the dating app that Harriet had suggested all those years ago. Harriet had been on the app since she was sixteen despite the minimum age requirement being eighteen. Harriet had never had any qualms about lying about her age, unlike Aimee who, as a child, wouldn’t play an online game without her parents’ permission. 

Aimee couldn’t help wondering who her soulmate was, what they were doing at that moment. She wondered if they thought about her often. She hoped that they did, as she thought of them constantly. She wondered what they would look like. She felt guilty for hoping that they were attractive. 

She sighed, sipping on her tea as she waited for Harriet and Enzi to show up at this little cafe where they had all planned to meet. She’d been waiting for about twenty minutes when she’d only arrived three minutes early. Harriet was always late to these sorts of things, but Enzi being late was a new occurrence. Enzi was always at least ten minutes early to any outing that they had planned. Aimee was quickly growing bored as she sat all on her own. 

She looked over at a pair of people who were laughing and enjoying each other’s company. They felt oddly familiar, but Aimee didn’t say anything until she spotted the heart-shaped mark on one of their necks. Her eyes widened and she rose to her feet walking over. 

“Lucio? Lucio Jaime?” She tilted her head, hoping that she was correct in identifying him. 

The man looked up, looking confused. “That’s me.” He confirmed. “And who are you?” 

“Aimee. Aimee Beaufort. We went to elementary and middle school together.” She informed him with a smile. “I don’t know if you remember me.” 

“Aimee!” Lucio’s eyes shot open. “Of course I remember you! We were friends!” He exclaimed with a wide grin. “Wow, I can’t believe it’s really you.”

“Yeah, well, it is.” Aimee said awkwardly. “Do you mind if I join you? My friends are running a bit late.” 

“Not at all!” Lucio gestured to an open seat at his table. “You remember Alvi, don’t you?” He gestured to the person across from him.

“Alvi?” The name didn’t sound familiar, but upon noticing the matching heart-shaped mark on the figure’s neck, she recognized her. “Oh! Alvi! Yes, of course.” 

Alvi laughed. “I went by a different name when you knew me, but here I am.” She smiled warmly. “It’s good to see you, Aimee. How have you been?” 

“Good! I’ve been really good.” Aimee smiled, leaning back in her chair. “I’ve been busy with college stuff, but who isn’t?” 

“Well, I’m not.” Alvi shrugged. “But I decided that college wasn’t for me a long time ago.” 

“I don’t blame you.” Aimee said. “College is a lot.” 

Alvi nodded. “Exactly.” She glanced at Aimee’s wrist. “So, any luck finding the one?” 

“Oh. No.” Aimee traced her soulmark subconsciously. “No such luck yet. Not everyone can be lucky enough to be childhood friends with their soulmate.” She pointed out, looking between the two of them. 

Alvi laughed. “I know. We were the lucky ones.” She looked across the table at Lucio fondly, reaching out and taking his hand. 

“You two are too cute.” Aimee insisted, smiling at them. “I’m sorry for interrupting your date. I should leave you in peace.” 

“No, it was nice to see you.” Lucio insisted. “Actually, can I get your number so we can stay in touch?” He suggested. 

“Oh, sure.” Aimee waited as Lucio fished around for his phone, getting it out and creating a contact for Aimee, allowing her to put in her number and pose for a photo. “It was nice seeing you.” 

“You too.” Lucio waved to Aimee as she returned to her table just as the door chimed with Harriet entering the cafe. 

“There you are.” Aimee threw up her hands. “Where have you been?” 

“Sorry.” Harriet said simply. “Where’s Enzi? In the bathroom?” 

“No. They haven’t shown up yet.” Aimee shook her head. 

“Really?” Harriet looked surprised. “They’re always here before both of us, though.” 

“I know.” Aimee sighed. “I don’t know where they could be.” She drummed her fingers against her cup of tea. As if on cue, her phone began to ring with the caller ID reading Enzi’s name. She quickly picked up. “Hey. Where are you?” 

“I’m so sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be able to come.” Enzi’s voice came through the speaker. “I met my soulmate.” 


End file.
